20 INHERITANCE IN POULTRY. 



5. Whiskers, or Muff. — This is a bunch of long feathers growing from 

 the sub-orbital and post-orbital region of the head. This characteristic, of 

 whose origin nothing is known, has been engrafted on several of the other 

 French breeds : the Crevecoeur, the Faverolle, the Du Mante, the Cossack, 

 the Bourbourg, etc. The muff occurs also on breeds which have little in 

 common with the French fowl, e. g. , the Sultan and the Orlaff and Pavaloff of 

 Russia. 



6. Beard. — This consists of a number of long feathers growing from the 

 middle of the chin and upper throat region (fig. 16). There is a fold of 

 skin here from which the feathers arise. Such a beard is usually associated 

 with the muff. The fold of skin, " dewlap," is found in some Indian Games 

 and, less marked, in the Dark Brahma male. 



7. 8. Crest ; Cerebral Hernia. — These are indistinguishable from 

 those of the Polish (pp. 8-10). 



9. Foot Color. — The brilliant yellow color of the tarsus of the Leghorn is 

 strikingly different from the colorless or dirty gray tarsus of the Houdan. 

 There must be a special yellow pigment in the skin of the former which is 

 absent in the latter. 



10. Number of Toes. — The possession of an extra toe (fig. 13) is an ancient 

 characteristic of poultry. The Latin author Columella, speaking of the fowl 

 kept by the Romans, says : ' ' Those hens are reckoned of the purest breed 

 which are 5-clawed, but so placed that no cross-spurs arise from the legs." 

 Since the tendency to extra toes must have arisen .spontaneously once, there 

 is always a possibility that it has done so several times, and it is by no 

 means certain, although probable, that the extra toe of the Polish is genet- 

 ically connected with that of the Roman fowl referred to. The following 

 record of occurrence of extra toes in poultry is interesting, since in this case 

 no relation to the Roman fowl is probable. A writer * in Der Zoologische 

 Garten states that Carl Bock in his " Reich des weissen Elefant," p. 267, re- 

 lates that he, in a journey from Tschengmai, on the third day reached 

 Muang Hawt, a way station on the road to Mulmen. This village is dis- 

 tinguished for its 6-toed fowl. Again, the Silky fowl, which certainly have 

 little in common with the Dorking, have extra toes (page 59). The extra toe 

 is to be regarded as a sport which has appeared at different times and which 

 is easily maintained as a racial characteristic. The question of the inher- 

 itance of such a sport is always interesting. The Houdan has typically 

 only one extra toe, making 5 in all ; it is occasionally found with 6. 

 Bateson and Saunders (1902, p. 98) sometimes got 6 toes in hybrids between 

 Leghorns and Dorkings. The length of the extra toe and the completeness 

 of bifurcation are very variable. 



Langkavel, B. 18S6, p. 35. 



